SACRIFICE

We finally have a debt-ceiling bill that will be voted on in both houses of Congress today or tomorrow.  So what was really the cost? Did it damage our standing in the world? Did emerging democracies look at the greatest nation on earth and think “Wow if they can’t get it right, what hope do we have?”  What about the American people who in my estimation had its government held hostage by the Tea Party, during what some people called negotiations.  I felt it was a hostage situation to a political ideology.  I realize that we have to change the way we do business.  We need to look at the entitlement process. The majority party is asking that the books of our country be balanced on the backs of people who can least afford to contribute:  the poor, the elderly and the disabled.  Half of the federal debt was caused by three things: the Bush tax cuts which have been unpaid for, two unnecessary wars, and Medicare part D. The Medicare program is a great program, it gives seniors in our country access to life saving prescription drugs, at an affordable cost, but we need to figure out a way to pay for it.

I remember filing my income tax return last year. When I got to my accountant it turned out that I owed the Internal Revenue Service money. At first I was disturbed, but then I realized I was paying my fair share.  Most Americans have no objection to paying their fair share. The only people who really object to paying taxes are people of affluence.

So where does the political class fit into this whole scenario? The politicians in Washington talk about cuts and sacrifice, so what are they willing to sacrifice?  It seems nothing at this point.  So what I am proposing is that all members of Congress should enact a 25% pay cut on their individual salaries, and Congressional pensions should be eliminated. All former members should also have their pensions cut by the same 25%.  Now I realize that this is not a high dollar amount; the savings are minuscule, in real dollar amounts that we need to save in order to balance the federal budget. But I feel the members of Congress should give the American people a symbolic gesture of sacrifice. After all, they are asking of us to sacrifice; shouldn’t they?